Nice notes! I love WWII Japanese money because they are all pretty affordable, look nice, and have tons of nice history attached
It was issued 1937 otherwise Year 12 of the Shōwa Era. The issue date leads me to believe it is some sort of public subscription or war bond. Additionally, the 3rd month of the Shōwa Era coincided with March 25th on our calendar. Nonetheless, the Second Sino - Japanese War didn't begin until July of 1937. Edit: After some searching on eBay, it would appear to be a privately issued bond from some institution called the Hypothec Bank. https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Hypoth...514908?hash=item4b65cd84dc:g:cuUAAOSwyulbqzwd
Japanese war bonds are extensively covered in WWII Remembered by Fred Schwan and Joe Boling. Boling is an expert on Japanese numismatics. The Hypothec Bank was a government controlled institution originally involved in agricultural lending. It issued a large number of small denomination bonds during the war years. Schwan and Boling consider the Manchurian Incident of 1931 as the start of the war in Asia.
